Meth contamination forced three Denver area libraries to close in the last two months, but they're not the only public spaces experiencing the kind of substance abuse that poses a health hazard to unsuspecting Coloradans.

Drug contamination is increasingly becoming a pernicious problem in the state — so much so that it's keeping one company that specializes in drug decontamination occupied. 

Peter Riley, president of Crystal Clean Decontamination, a meth lab decontamination and bio-recovery company out of Denver, said his company used to travel the country to clean spaces.

But his employees haven't left the state in five years — because there is so much work in Colorado, he said. 

His firm, which has been around since 2006 and specializes in only meth decontamination, hasn't cleaned any of the city library bathrooms because his company has been too busy.

"Addiction knows no boundaries," Riley said. "The awareness has been growing and, obviously, the use is growing a lot as well."

Indeed, meth use has permeated public places like gas stations, restaurants and grocery or convenience stores.  

Chris Howes, president of Colorado Retail Council, said the issue of drug use, notably that of meth abuse, affects grocery stores in the Denver area.

"It is a very big problem of individuals who come into restrooms and either create a big mess, or, more often than we would like, actually use drugs and leave needles in the bathrooms," Howes said. 

Howes said businesses on private property are allowed to control who uses and who does not get to use their restrooms — as long as they are not discriminating against one segment of the population over others.

However, many businesses, notably grocery stores, face the difficult balancing act of ensuring safety of customers and the need to accommodate people, Howes said.

"It's an ongoing judgement call trying to accommodate everybody and create a comfortable and safe experience while your store is open," Howes said.

The drug issue used to primarily affect downtown Denver, but it is now seeping into the suburbs, Howes said, adding his group is working with mayors and police chiefs to try to ensure the safety of their customers and teams. 

Since late December, three Denver area public library bathrooms have tested for levels of methamphetamine residue above safe levels. At the end of December, Boulder's Public Main Library closed for cleaning after tests revealed meth residue in its restroom air ducts, according to the city. On Jan. 6, authorities found levels of meth contamination above state thresholds at the Englewood Public Library and temporarily closed the library for specialized cleaning. 

Most recently, on Jan. 18, the city of Littleton closed the Bemis Public Library after tests found "elevated levels" of meth contamination "requiring professional decontamination" in library bathrooms.

Meth contamination has occurred in public transportation, with RTD closing restrooms at its Downtown Boulder Station on Jan. 10 for decontamination.

Decontaminating a property from meth residue is not cheap.

The decontamination process widely varies and can take anywhere from a week to months, Riley said, adding the amount of time it takes to decontaminate largely depends on variables, such as the level of contamination, the condition of the property and how long the contamination has been there.

"There's a lot of investigating to figure it out," Riley said. "Something like an RTD bathroom that was designed to be cleaned could take anywhere from seven to 10 days, but we could be talking about having to remove the insulation from an attic or the soil from a crawlspace and it could easily turn into a month or two process."

The price of decontamination also varies depending on various factors, Riley said.

Sometimes, the process is as simple as washing the whole property, which can cost $8,000 to $10,000. Other times, the process requires more extensive work, such as stripping paint layers, which could cost upwards of $60,000.

Denver Public Library Director of Communications and Community Engagement Erika Martinez told The Denver Gazette library officials have been communicating with the Department of Public Health and Environment on addressing these issues.

"(The DDPHE), along with other city agencies and industrial hygiene and mitigation firms, are currently working on a protocol for sound assessment and more specific cleaning measures to address possible contamination from illicit substances in city facilities, including the library," Martinez said.

It's not immediately clear how officials intend to prevent a future contamination of meth, a powerful and highly addictive drug that is often sold in powder or crystal form. A stimulant, meth is often a drug of choice because it offers a longer-lasting "rush" or high and it's cheaper than other drugs. It can be abused in different ways — ingesting, injecting, smoking, snorting.

Martinez maintained that the health risks related to methamphetamine residue are very low, with higher risk coming from the production of methamphetamine rather than secondhand exposure.

A technical paper produced by the government of West Australia, which looked into the health risks posed by residual meth, noted that smoking the drug often means heating to vaporize it, which can "deposit on surfaces, leaving residues in a similar manner to those resulting from tobacco or cannabis smoking indoors."

The paper said meth surface residues can persist for months or years.

While the paper noted the lack of published cases reporting adverse health effects of third-hand exposure from smoking meth, it cited a case study about residents who discovered their property was a former clandestine laboratory. The residents self-reported health complaints, including skin irritation or rashes, eye irritation, respiratory effects — persistent cough or asthma-like symptoms, persistent and recurrent respiratory infections, sleep issues, headaches, behavioral effects, as well as memory issues.

Riley — who offered that the health effects of second-hand meth exposure are "all over the place" and exposure affects children and people with preexisting conditions, such as asthma or other respiratory conditions — believes medical professionals are still learning about how exposure affects people, but that the recent uptick in tracking is speeding up that process.

Riley's team stays safe during decontamination through proper use of personal protective equipment, which includes filtered respirators and a full suit with gloves, he said.

This trend — of public spaces becoming a place to get high — is part of a broader issue surrounding meth use in Colorado.

In 2021, meth contributed to 734 overdose deaths in Colorado, according to the Harm Reduction Action Center in Denver. That's nearly double the number of residents who died by homicide that year, and it's more than 10 times the meth death toll from 2011.

More people died from meth overdoses in 2021 than in those tied to heroin, cocaine, prescription pills and alcohol combined, the center said.

Experts say meth alone does not explain why overdoses have surged as much as they have. The primary reason, they say, is fentanyl.

Indeed, of the 734 meth overdoses in 2021, 317 involved fentanyl, more than double the number from 2020, according to state data.

Officials from law enforcement and from organizations that work directly with drug users note that fentanyl pills are widely and cheaply available and they have largely replaced heroin as the primary opioid on the illicit market. Crucially, fentanyl powder is increasingly found mixed into other drugs, notably cocaine, heroin and meth — often without the user's knowledge.

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